The New Year Good Enough Dilemma

It’s that time of year again – new year hopes, expectations, disappointments. Many of us are engaged in more, or less, helpful spaces of exchange and reflection about who we want to be and what we want to do over the next 12 months.

Last January I shared some thoughts about how we might look outwards rather than inwards in our journey, and suggested reflection on what stories we might tell in support of progressive politics. I have tried to take my own advice, pushing further through my feature writing journalism course. I keep an eye out for stories which recognise and connect the beauty of day-to-day humanity with the big questions of how we organise ourselves as a society and what that means for the distribution of power and resources. I have also tried to explore these themes in this blog, writing when I can and trying not to worry when I can’t. The classic good enough dilemma.

In a helpful thought process sparked by the wonderful writing group at my work, I noted some words down today on a bright orange postit note: capacity is not the same as capability. I was trying to capture the idea that what I can do is not the same as what I am able to do, and that what I cannot do is not about my inability to do it. Granted it might be, sometimes, but when my capacity and capability get joined and confused in my mind it stops me from doing a very important thing. It stops me from knowing what is good enough.

I recently heard about Forest Church’s mantra: want what you have; do what you can; be who you are. I find this helpful as a starting place, imbued with acceptance, perspective and gratitude. I also find this helpful as a first step in asking how such acceptance comes into being. It surely comes more easily to me in my peaceful community, warm home, and loving family. What you have, what you can do, and who you are, are so intimately shaped by inequalities of birth, uncontrolled events, opportunities of circumstance, and resources at your disposal. How does who I am and the spaces I occupy determine what I think of as enough?

The good enough dilemma is a question of capacity and capability. The gap between the two is often not of our making. In their work on human welfare, Martha Nussbaum and Amartya Sen’s capabilities approach tells us that individuals have differences in their ability to transform opportunities and resources into fulfilling lives. Welfare and wellbeing are not a question of absolutes, but of relative advantages and disadvantages which are made through circumstance. They are also designed through systems and structures which elevate some and disempower others.

For me, the good enough question is not only about finding places of acceptance and gratitude, of balancing our wellbeing with the endless demands of others, or of knowing when to stop. It is also about knowing when to start. When to start asking how the gap between capacity and capability came to be and how it may be different for yourself compared to others. Take a look around your family, your friends, your communities, the stories on the news, and ask yourself what others are able to do and why/why not. Then ask yourself how you and the spaces you occupy might be implicated in such opportunities and constraints placed on others.

This year I would like to do what I can, in the spaces I’m in, with the resources I have. I would like to talk, think, and learn more about the gap between capacity and capability for myself and for others. When I see such gaps, I would then like to nourish necessary circles of care and support.

I think that’s good enough for now.

January 2026